The Dragon's Keep

the number 23

I totally forgot to post yesterday...er, two days ago now, technically...for my birthday! I'm now 23 years old, and it's just not all that exciting anymore. Heh. I really didn't even do anything for my birthday except go to the Olive Garden for lunch with my mom, which was an adventure in itself. I hesitate to tell the story because it means admitting that even I, the best woman driver in the world (*mutter*self-proclaimed*mutter*), was still just a woman driver for a singular moment in time. *sigh* But the tale must be told, and hopefully it will at least make you laugh...

Alright, so my mom and I took separate cars because she had to go straight to work right after lunch. I knew how to get to Olive Garden, but I followed my mom anyway because it just worked out that way. We pull into the parking lot, and she starts to pull into a spot, but then hesitates and starts going back towards the left around the corner of the building. She goes for a little, and I guess I thought that she kept readjusting because she was going to try to fit into a different spot. So I start to pull right behind her into the first spot, and as she starts backing towards me again, I realize a split second too late that she was trying to back into the spot I'm trying to pull forward into. So really, it *is* at least partly her fault, because she assumed that surely her daughter would know what she was doing and not be behind her, and therefore didn't even look over her right shoulder at all. My brain was farting so badly that I didn't even think to try and back up or honk the horn or anything. I just watched in horror as my mom continued to back right into me, only stopping when she heard the crunch of her bumper against my front left wheel well. She stops, pulls into a spot a little ways down, and I pull into the spot we had been "fighting" for.

Of course, by this time, I wasn't sure whether to get out and face her or just pull out again and go home with my tail between my legs. I opted for the first choice, biting my lip to keep from laughing at my own stupidity. The look of half anger, half bemused incredulity on her face did not help at all. I think the only reason she didn't start yelling at me right then and there is because she didn't know whether to scream at me or laugh at me herself. Her bumper was a bit scratched, and there's a couple of cracks in my wheel well, but as my car is old and a POS anyway, and neither of us really want to explain this one to my dad, let alone the police or a shop, we're basically going to pretend it never happened. XD

Jeff, wherever you are, laughing your butt off somewhere on Heaven's floor, yes, I admit it, I *am* a chick driver. -_-

Beyond that, the only thing I really got for my birthday was pizza and brownies from my best friend and her husband for dinner that night. Oh! And the coolest thing! My friend Cody just got back from a 10-day trip to China. He brought back all kinds of stuff for everyone, so even though he didn't even know it was my birthday, I got stuff from him. Hehe. He gave me a Chinese Chess set, a pair of *real* chopsticks that even came in a pretty little pouch, one Chinese dollar (the anti-counterfeiting measures on that bill were INSANE but awesome), and a really nice little thing that's technically supposed to be a cell phone keychain, but I put it on a necklace chain and it's really pretty. I'm so excited that he thought of me and that I now have some cool Chinese stuff! Though now I really REALLY want to go to Japan... T.T

posted by Erin Duncan @ 12:04 AM